best for experts

I skied St Anton this winter and Zermatt the year before. I'm thinking about making it over again this coming winter. At St Anton someone said I have to go to France to find the best advanced skiing.

Chamonix of course has a reputation, but I don't want to have to hire a guide, and I want lots and lots of different lifts accessing long expert runs.
Am I right the big French resorts are Courcheval (3 Valleys), Les Arcs(Paradiski) and VAl D'isere. And then there is Verbier. Has anyone skied all those resorts? Where can I find long, lift-serve steep runs where I won't need a guide. I'll likely be traveling and skiing by myself. I know those 3 are a pain to get to from Geneva, I'll have to hire a car, seems easier than a train. Verbier is handy by train, does it measure up to those other 3 French resorts?

I skied Zermatt in December, it was almost all open, but I didn't find it very challenging. St. Anton I really liked, but am hoping to find something even better for me in France. What's the story. I'm coming from the USA.

To find out more about the Les Arcs area, have a look on here at Snowcrazy's season long reports of runs and conditions. I've skied with him and he's a rather good skier :D

To get to Les Arcs or anywhere else in the Tarentaise, catch the bus from Geneva airport.

You can ski the best bits of Chamonix by joining a group and share the cost of a Guide.

If you want lift served off piste then La Grave should be on your list. There are no pistes, just your choice of ways down.

Make sure you are well insured, there has been lots of debate about off piste insurance clauses in the past few months, both here and elsewhere.

He might also like Engelberg maybe?

I've skied part of 3 valleys but only as a beginner, so the only place of those I can comment on would be Verbier, where I had my first experiences of off piste and itinerary routes, and have to say I thought it was a fantastic ski area.

Vebier has an awesome off-piste terraine accessible from lifts. And if you are up for a hike it's right from the magazine. If you can ski well you won't get bored. The better you ski the more terraine opens up. It has Mont-Gele and it's totally unpisted, with one marked route and some no-fall traverses. It has steeps, couloirs, rock gardens. Chamonix is also well-worth vising. even skiing just what is marked there is a special experience. Blacks are real blacks. And the veiw is unreal. Right under Mont-Blanc. And the guide for a day is a good investment and Vallee Blanche tour. Or La Grave, though I suspect the guide is almost a must there too. at least for a day.

I guess any of those big French resorts would do, or Verbier or Chamonix. I have a few more frequent flyer trips in my pocket, and I plan on using them the next few years.

Speaking of LeGrave. Have you read this book - Ski The World: A True Story Of Love, Courage And Danger. Written by a Brit who skied all over the world, everyday for a year with his girlfriend. It was perfect reading material while I flew to Zurich this January. The point is, sadly, she died at Le Grave in a couloirs after the year was over. I would like to ski Le Grave, but I wouldn't want to be pushed to be climbing ropes and go in no fall zones etc. Not that I'm a wuss, just that I get plenty of fun and exercise by skiing the good stuff w/o taking huge risks. And I've skied for almost 40 yrs, w/ no serious injuries and i want to keep it that way! (and I haven't put a helmet on yet)

Maybe I'll just plan on Verbier, it's easy to get to. I had a room/trip booked there in Dec 09 but there was no snow and I changed my plans to Zermatt, which worked out well, although I hardly found a mogul on the entire hill, anyway it was a great first ski trip for Europe.

re: Engleberg - actually I have looked at that map and it looks up my alley.

Also, crazy at it might seem. I'll only be there for 3 full days of skiing, and i would like to land at 8am and be skiing by 1:30p. I did it last year at St Anton w/o any undue wear or tear. I even prolonged my day by missing my lift and had to catch a bus back to my hotel.

Well guess there won't be too many replies with you folks all worked up about Kate and all that.

Glenncz,
Liked the sound of the book until you gave the story away!

And funnily enough as I was listening to the radio this morning the presenter was saying the Americans are obsessed with 'Kate and all that'
Will you be watching??

It's kind of passing me by - It's on the TV and radio here, but nothing like the Charles and Di fever we had in the 80's.

Happy to get a bank holiday out of it though.

Dids

My friends go to La Grave every year for a weekend but they always take a guide. It's not all extreme, but some lines can be that's why a guide is needed.

No-fall zones happen in many off-piste itineraries. Valle Blanche even that being a relatively easy skiing (the classic route) starts with a no-fall traverse - a fall there will see you rolling probably all the way down to Chamonix, which is about 2500m below, but thousands are still doing this itinerary quite safely every year and it's a spectacular descent, a definite must-do if you are staying in Chamonix. Plus you can ask the guide to take you through some variations of the classic route which involve more steep skiing.

I've never skied in 3 valles but I heard that compared to Verbier or Chamonix it is quite flattering. I skied in Zermatt and resort skiing there is while spectacular, still easy and December is too early for the itineraries from top of Stockhorn to be open. Go to Verbier, you won't be disappointed. They stage xtreme freeride worldtour final for a reason. But you should carry avi gear and know how to use it even if you don't need a guide generally (the guide is still can be helpful as they know the area and can take you to the best snow). but in early December itineraries might not be open. you can probably still ski some (if the lifts taking you back up are running - and they are if the neighbouring ski areas are open) but it may have insurance complications if you have to be rescued. Chaussoure-Tortin is as hard as the mogul runs can be and moguls are guaranteed there - steep, big and rock hard for 700 meters vertical, none of these fluffy bumps seen in instruction videos or competitions. or Gentianes-Tortin, which is even harder and longer and you can extend it more if you start from top of Mont-Fort, another 300 vertical meters of fairly steep bumps and a good preparation to what's ahead. If you land in Geneva at 8am you will be skiing by 1.30. And for 3 days you can do without a guide - you will be plenty occupied with what is marked on the map and will have some left for your next trip.

Get the book I mentioned above, probably $4 shipped, it's a good read written by an interesting old school kind of guy.

Yes, i think Verbier it will be. It's big and I can take the train, and it is reliably known for it's good terrain.

Does Verbier tend to have better snow than Chamonix? I know last year was a bad snow year for Cham.

If you euro's ever can get to USA, go to Salt Lake City and particularly Snowbird! A dream trip would be 4 days in Salt Lake and 3 days in Jackson Hole, an easy interstate drive away.